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This is an old video, probably over two years old. I am sure Joel has moved on cutting steel with an angle grinder. I would guess his blanks are laser cut these days.

Why people use angle grinders? Because water or laser jet cutting is expensive if you buy steel by a sheet. Say 80LB sheet will yield about 80 knives. At $10+/cut, you shelling out $800+ extra plus shipping. Take PM steel at $21/lb, add shipping to the laser/waterjet cutting facility, cost of cutting and return shipping and you start seeing a real incentive to cut steel yourself by whatever means (including angle grinder) available.

I use angle grinder and a portable bandsaw at the moment. I might get a stationary bandsaw, or use laser jet or waterjet cutting service next time I order, but upfront cost is high in both cases.

Sharpening before finishing? Now, that is something worth to wonder about. As honing an edge on slack leather (razor hone).

A bit off topic, but you should try shaving extensively with a razor both with a strop and without a strop to see what difference it makes. Knife guys seem to always have something to say about stropping on hanging strops, but I always wonder how many of them have actually tried razors extensively. In other words, theory is great. But, it doesn't necessarily predict lived reality.

I was referring to stropping a knife on a hanging (slack) strop - it was at one point at the end of Joel's video. Maybe it got edited out since along with a comment that best knives come from Europe, Japan and Brooklyn? I haven't watched that video since that first time years ago so I don't know.

Razors have their backs as guides for stropping, but knives don't, so you have to mount your strop on a flat surface and use the same angles as sharpening. Honing a knife on a slack belt will round your edge in no time.

My bad, Marko. I watched the video and don't remember that part, so it may have been edited out, or I may not have been paying enough attention. I had initially thought that your comment was somewhere along the lines of how Carter thinks about razor honing.

Anyways, back on topic. I'd like to try his knives. Does anyone know if he has a shop in Brooklyn?

You go on his website and somewhere in there, there is an address for his shop. I googled his place with a street view. I don't know how old the google imagines are, but it looks kind of run down. Maybe the area has been renovated since. The place is a pretty easy drive from my house. If it wasn't for the $20 in bridge tolls I was thinking about going by there one day.

not to be a stick in the mud, but I dont really understand all the interest in this guy's knives. Theres about a hundred other U.S. makers I would like to check out first at his pricepoints. Furthermore, theres virtually no testimonies or feedback about the performance of the knives. I need more info than indie short films.

not to be a stick in the mud, but I dont really understand all the interest in this guy's knives. Theres about a hundred other U.S. makers I would like to check out first at his pricepoints. Furthermore, theres virtually no testimonies or feedback about the performance of the knives. I need more info than indie short films.

Well, I tip my head to him for marketing himself right. Money well spent (videos and two writeups in NY Times) despite the cost.